Turkey

2013

Istanbul, December 19, 2013--A Turkish journalist is the latest
reporter to be abducted in Syria, where approximately 30 journalists are missing,
the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Bünyamin Aygün, a photojournalist
for the daily Milliyet, was abducted in
November, but the case was not made public before this week.

For the second consecutive year, Turkey was the world’s
leading jailer of journalists, followed closely by Iran and China. The number
of journalists in prison globally decreased from a year earlier but remains
close to historical highs. A CPJ special
report by Elana Beiser

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For
the second year in a row, our prison census
shows, Turkey
jailed more journalists than any other country. The number of journalists
behind bars is 40; down from the 61 reporters in October 2012, and less than
the 49 we recorded on December 1, 2012. Still, Turkey
holds more journalists in custody than Iran, China, or Eritrea.

Upon receiving the
news, Hinostroza told CPJ: "It will be an honor for me to receive this
recognition, which will drive me to continue working for freedom of expression
in my country and support the different processes that are being developed
around the world to defend this right."

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Turkey is hardly a press freedom paradise, but what makes
the country so exciting for journalists is the amount of news it generates on
any given day. The domestic story is huge, with near-daily street protests, the
booming economy beginning to sag, and the prospect of regional conflict looming
with Syria. And Istanbul is a base for the international press covering not
only Turkey but also Syria, Iraq and Egypt.

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Dear Prime Minister Erdoğan, as an independent international press freedom advocacy organization, we are concerned about the continued press freedom crisis in Turkey. We believe the government's failure to safeguard press freedom undermines the great strengths of your nation.

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Istanbul,
August 7, 2013--A Turkish appellate court should overturn the convictions of
numerous journalists who have been convicted in connection with Ergenekon, a
broad anti-government conspiracy, the Committee to Protect Journalists said
today. The journalists were convicted on flawed penal and anti-terror laws that
conflate news coverage and commentary with terrorism.

New
York, July 25, 2013--The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that
numerous Turkish journalists, including the leading columnist Yavuz Baydar, have
been fired or forced to resign from news outlets in apparent retaliation for
their independent coverage of anti-government demonstrations that swept the
country.

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New York, July 9, 2013--Four Turkish
journalists in Egypt were briefly taken into military custody today, following
an assault on another Turk on Sunday, according to news reports. Separately, an
Egyptian journalist was severely beaten by Muslim Brotherhood supporters last
week.

From São Paulo to Istanbul to Cairo, coverage of
street demonstrations has re-emerged as an exceptionally dangerous assignment
for journalists. Since June 1, CPJ has documented more than 120 attacks on the
press amid the civil unrest in Brazil, Turkey, and Egypt--the biggest surge of
attacks in such circumstances since the uprisings that swept the Arab world in
2011. My colleague Özgür Öğret described the danger
in Turkish streets last week, and CPJ issued several alerts on assaults on the press in Brazil. The
massive protests in Egypt have already resulted in more than three dozen anti-press
attacks, including one fatality, and bring to mind the record-setting violence
of two years ago.

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It all changed so swiftly. The demand and price of gas
masks, protective eyewear, and helmets rocketed in Istanbul. Not only
protestors, but journalists, too, contributed to the rush. Hardware store
clerks were quick studies, explaining to journalists which masks offer you a
better line of sight when taking pictures, and describing the problem of speaking through a
mask when broadcasting live. Of course, the gear only works when it is worn,
not after police confiscate the equipment.

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New
York, June 24, 2013--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a spurious
and inflammatory Twitter campaign begun Sunday by Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek
against a local BBC reporter.
Gökçek labeled BBC reporter Selin Girit as a traitor and a spy in apparent
disagreement with the BBC's coverage of anti-government protests that have
swept the country.

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Istanbul,
June 20, 2013--Two journalists were detained and one newsroom raided this week
as Turkish authorities continued a broad crackdown on dissent, according to
news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the government to
halt its obstruction of journalists seeking to cover the protests that have
swept the nation.

Somalis, Syrians flee violence; Iran crackdown deepens

Fifty-five
journalists fled their homes in the past year with help from the Committee to
Protect Journalists. The most common reason to go into exile was the threat of
violence, such as in Somalia and Syria, two of the most deadly countries in the
world for the profession. Others fled the threat of prison, especially in Iran,
where the government deepened its crackdown ahead of elections. A CPJ special report
by Nicole Schilit

Istanbul,
June 17, 2013--Anti-press violence intensified in Istanbul on Sunday as police
aggressively sought to obstruct reporters covering demonstrations against the
government, according to news reports and CPJ interviews. The Committee to
Protect Journalists calls on authorities to halt their harassment of the press.

Istanbul, June 14, 2013--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls
on the Turkish state media regulator to reverse its decision to penalize four TV
stations in connection with their coverage of the demonstrations that have occurred
nationwide over the past two weeks.

The coverage of the
Taksim Square protests will not be remembered as a moment of glory for a number
of Turkish mainstream media. While demonstrators were being tear-gassed and
beaten by police a week ago, CNN Türk was airing a
documentary on penguins and Habertürk
had a debate on mental illness.

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Istanbul,
June 6, 2013--Turkish police have targeted journalists photographing law
enforcement clashes with protesters in a series of attacks, detentions, and
obstructions documented by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Istanbul, June 5, 2013--Turkish authorities should not
interfere with the free flow of information online or in any other media, the
Committee to Protect Journalists said today after a senior government official
suggested Internet restrictions could be in the offing.

Istanbul, June 3, 2013--The press has come under fire from
both government officials and protesters amid nationwide demonstrations in
Turkey, with instances of attacks, obstruction, detention, and vandalism being
reported, according to news accounts and local journalists.

Istanbul, May 31, 2013--At least two journalists were
reported injured today as Turkish police trained water cannons and tear gas on peaceful
protesters in the city's central Taksim Square, according to news accounts and
CPJ interviews.

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Istanbul, May 24, 2013--Turkish authorities should reverse on appeal
the jail term handed down this week to a Turkish Armenian author and blogger
who was convicted of insulting the Prophet Muhammad, the Committee to Protect
Journalists said today.

A decision last week in the murder case of Hrant
Dink will lead to a retrial, but Dink's supporters are still not satisfied.
The ruling on May 15 by Turkey's Supreme Court of Appeals in Ankara
acknowledged that there was a criminal conspiracy to murder the ethnic Armenian
journalist, but stopped short of opening the way to a deeper investigation into
potential involvement by Turkey's powerful institutions.

When twin car
bombs shook the district of Reyhanli in Turkey's southeastern province of Hatay
near the Syrian border last Saturday, killing at least 51 people and wounding
dozens of others, a local court issued a gag order on all news coverage of the attack.
The ban was unprecedented in scope and in the way by which it came about.

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When
President Obama meets with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyp Erdoğan today, he
needs to deliver the message that Turkey's failure to improve its record on
press freedom is eroding the country's strategic relationship with the United
States and sabotaging its regional leadership ambitions, CPJ's executive director,
Joel Simon, and Reporters Without Borders' director general, Christophe Deloire,
write in an opinion piece in Foreign Policy.

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Istanbul, April 25, 2013--An Istanbul court convicted a
Turkish editor of "publicly insulting the president" and sentenced him to a
conditional term of 14 months in prison, according to news reports. Ali Örnek would
be jailed if he repeats the perceived offense sometime in the next five years
under amendments to Turkey's criminal code introduced in 2012.

Today, hope for peace between the government
of Turkey and Kurdish rebels is closer than ever to becoming reality. A
resolution to the conflict, after more than 30 years, could have ramifications
for Turkey's standing as the world's worst jailer of journalists. According to CPJ research, three-quarters
of the journalists imprisoned in Turkey are from the pro-Kurdish media.

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A court in the city of Adana released Özlem Ağuş,
reporter for the pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DİHA), from prison on February
25, 2013, pending a trial, DIHA reported. The journalist was imprisoned on
March 6, 2012, on charges that included membership in the banned Union of
Communities in Kurdistan, or KCK, which the government designated
a terrorist group.

In a letter
she passed from Gebze women's prison outside Istanbul, Fusün Erdoğan,
founder and director of the leftist broadcaster Özgür Radyo, details
circumstances of her arrest, imprisonment, and politicized criminal charges. Erdoğan
founded the broadcaster in 1995, and worked as its director until September 8,
2006--the day when plainclothes police agents detained her in the city of Izmir,
she writes in the letter. She has been locked up ever since.

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CPJ's Robert Mahoney identifies the 10 countries where press freedom suffered the most in 2012. They include Syria, the world's deadliest country for the press; Russia, where repressive laws took effect; Brazil, where journalist murders soared; and Ethiopia, where terror laws are used to silence the press. (3:26)

With 49 journalists imprisoned for their work as of December 1, Turkey emerged as the world’s worst jailer of the press. Kurdish journalists, charged with supporting terrorism by covering the activities of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party, made up the majority of the imprisoned journalists. They are charged under a vague anti-terror law that allows the authorities to equate coverage of banned groups with terrorism itself. A CPJ special report issued in October found highly repressive aspects of the penal code and anti-terror law, a criminal procedure code that favors the state, and a harsh anti-press tone set at the top levels of government. Intense government pressure caused media owners to dismiss critical journalists and generated pervasive self-censorship throughout the profession. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has filed several defamation lawsuits in recent years, publicly denigrated numerous critical journalists. CPJ conducted three fact-finding and advocacy missions to Turkey in 2012, meeting with journalists, lawyers, diplomats, and Turkey’s justice minister, Sadullah Ergin. CPJ urged Ergin to undertake a case-by-case review of all detained journalists.

Worldwide tally reaches highest point since CPJ began
surveys in 1990. Governments use charges of terrorism, other anti-state offenses
to silence critical voices. Turkey is the world's worst jailer. A CPJ special report

Istanbul, February 11, 2013--The release of at least seven
journalists and media workers from pretrial detention is a positive step toward
restoring the press freedom climate in Turkey, the Committee to Protect
Journalists said today.

The European Union enjoys
waving the banner of press freedom overseas. However, it is sometimes at a loss
when it has to define its approach to press freedom among its own member
states.

Last year, the EU
tried and failed to convince the Hungarian government to radically amend its
highly controversial media law. The conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban deflected
the pressure by playing on the vagueness of EU treaties and on the fear of Brussels'
intervention in the member states' "internal affairs."

The
government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is quick to brand critics as
"terrorists," and that's one of the main reasons that Turkey was the world's
worst jailer of the press when CPJ conducted its recent census
of imprisoned journalists. This week, the prime minister and two pro-government
newspapers applied the label once again to critics, illustrating the extremely
difficult climate confronting any Turkish journalist who challenges official
positions.

With Turkey recently in the spotlight because
of its press
freedom record--including dishonorable distinction as the world's
worst jailer of journalists--many international observers wonder how Ankara
will overcome its image crisis and whether it will choose to resolutely base
its broad strategic ambitions on the respect of global standards of press
freedom. A new report to be officially launched in Brussels tomorrow by Marc
Pierini, a former EU ambassador to Ankara and senior Turkey scholar at Carnegie
Europe and the Open Society Foundation, "Press
freedom in Turkey," underscores the importance of the issue. As Pierini
recently told CPJ, "What kind of state and of society does Turkey want to be?
To what league of nations does it want to belong?"

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January 22, 2013, Istanbul, Turkey--Turkish authorities
should halt their practice of jailing journalists on vague anti-terror charges
and allow the local press to report freely without fear of imprisonment or
harassment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.